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NASA has chosen satellite maker Maxar Technologies to build the very first element of the Moon Bridge – a new space station that the agency wants to create in orbit around the moon. The bridge is expected to serve as an outpost for astronauts as part of NASA's recently-produced lunar program Artemis. From this station, the astronauts will make landfall to the surface of the Moon, then go up to the bridge before returning home.
Maxar will manufacture what is called the power and propulsion element of the bridge. This is a key module needed to keep the station afloat. It will be equipped with solar panels to provide electricity to the entire bridge and will also provide essential communication capabilities between the station and the Earth. In addition, the module has its own thrusters that can be used to maintain the gateway's position in orbit around the Moon or move the gateway to different types of lunar orbits, if necessary.
And NASA becomes electric with this module. Rather than relying on the burning of chemicals to move the vehicle, the gateway propellers will move the space station using the electrical energy generated by the solar panels. The electricity will charge gas inside the thrusters, and then a magnetic field will be used to push all the excited gas out of the rear end of the probe, driving the vehicle forward. Known as solar electric propulsion, this technique requires about 10 times less propulsion than a traditional propellant, according to NASA. This saves weight, which is useful because removing heavy chemicals from the Earth requires a lot of energy (and money).
Maxar Technologies has been manufacturing large communications satellites for decades. Maxar is also famous for creating the robotic arm of the International Space Station. SSL, one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, is also building a spacecraft for NASA's Psyche mission, which will explore a metallic asteroid. NASA wants Maxar to first demonstrate in space with the module, then the agency will buy it from the company if it goes well. Once the power module is completed, NASA plans to launch the vehicle over a commercial rocket. However, the agency has not yet chosen the rocket that will transport the module to the moon.
The power and propulsion component of the bridge is an essential part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land a man and the first woman on the surface of the moon by 2024. For the initiative, NASA is planning to agency has developed a system called Space Launch System, or SLS. The astronauts will embark on a new crew capsule called Orion, which will moor at the bridge. All lunar landing gear designed for the Artemis program will also be presented at the bridge and moored at the station, before reaching the surface of the Moon. Last week, NASA selected 11 companies to study and build prototypes for human landing vehicles, although the space agency has not yet decided which companies would build the final vehicles.
NASA hopes that the Gateway will consist of several modules bringing together various commercial companies and international partners. But after Vice President Mike Pence has asked NASA to invite people to the moon within five years, NASA is now considering creating a very limited footbridge in the first place, to speed up its landing on the ground. Moon. This "skinny" gateway will simply consist of a small housing module, attached to the power module that Maxar is building. This means that building and launching this module is critical to the operation of NASA's accelerated landing plans.
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